DA: Mom in hot car death will not be charged

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — District Attorney Ben David said the mother whose baby died in a hot car in Wilmington will not face charges.

An 8-month-old boy was found inside his mother’s car on May 25, 2016 at the Pax Natura daycare after his mother, Nancy Byrd-Wilkins, accidentally left him. Officials said the mother took the baby to a doctor’s appointment, and afterward went to work and forgot the sleeping baby. She discovered the baby after going to the daycare to pick him up in the evening.

David said in a news conference that this incident was an accident, and it came from a “perfect storm of circumstances” arising from a change of routine.

“Mrs Wilkins was neither impaired nor was there any evidence of criminal negligence,” David said.

David said they went through surveillance video to see how the day played out. They said after the mother went to work, she stayed all day and didn’t take a lunch break.

“Is there anything the justice system can do to Mrs. Wilkins to punish her beyond what she is already doing to herself?” David said.

Judge Jay Corpening, Wilmington Police Chief Ralph Evangelous, Sheriff Ed McMahon and other area law enforcement leaders also spoke about what they hope folks can learn from a horrible incident like this one. They stressed to put something in a back seat to remind yourself to look in the back. There are even apps you can put on your phone to remind you to check your car, Evangelous said.